Style and Design 2012: Perfect Things

Bellboy Water Tower Chair

10 of 62

Credit: Tom Schierlitz

"We're ignoring the trends of most modern workshops," says Mat Driscoll, who designed the water tower chair. "We do things by hand, following in the footsteps of the old-timers who came before us." The seat of Driscoll's chair is hewn from a 40-year-old California redwood, its base from a Park Avenue water tower once used by the New York City Fire Department. It takes nine days to glue the wood pieces (more than 100) together; the chair is then shaped using a band saw and an angle grinder – not the modern workshop wizardry of a computer-controlled router. The original concept Driscoll had in mind was to create something low to the ground and comfortable that was also an object of real beauty. "Too often designers and makers rely on the reclaimed timbers to tell the story and don't put enough effort into designing a beautiful piece. In that case, you're better off leaving the timbers in the lumberyard." [Price by inquiry; bellboynewyork.com]